Bulb display package



Aug. 15, 1950 M. R. MULFORD 2,518,711

BULB DISPLAY- PACKAGE Filed June 27, 1946 13 H HOW 1'0 llnu Nu- Illlln n .INVENTOR MAP/0N A? MHz-F0510.

ATTORNEYS- Patented Aug. 15, 1950 um TED STATES PATENT OFFICE V BULB I 7 Marion It. Mulford, Lebanon, Ohio, assignor. to

Hewett P. Mulford &/ Oompan a partnership Leban n. Ohio Application .Junc21i1 serial No. Mild-.69 2 Claims; tCl. cos-445.39)

. manner. It is usually desirable to have the bulbs displayed in such manner that the prospective purchaser may examine the bulbs without opening the. package.

Various attempts have been made in the past to package bulbs in some sort. of transparent bag, with or without a stifiener, but these, packages have not been satisfactory, because they .did not have eye appeal, and at. the same time, theywere incapable of retaining their shape over a period of time.

pWith the above difflculties in view, it is an ob.- ject of my invention to provide a bulb package which will overcome these difficulties. It. ,is an object of my invention to provide a package in which the bulbs may readily be examined without opening the package and which package will be strengthened and reinforced; in such manner that it will retain its original shape. It is another object of my invention to provide a package having the advantages outlined above which will not only be desirable from the standpoint of its structural features, but which will also be pleasing to the eye, so that it will tend to attract purchasers. Further objects of my invention include the provision of such a package which will be inexpensive, easy to fill, and easy to close.

These and other objects of my invention, which will be pointed out more in detail hereinafter or which will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon reading these specifications, I accomplish by that certain construction and arrangement of parts of which I shall now describe an exemplary embodiment. Reference is made to the drawings forming a part hereof and in which:

Figure "1 is a front view of the envelope -mem ber of the package.

Figure 2 is a rear view of the same.

Figure 3 is aplan view of the stiffener blank showing certain score lines, to a reduced scale.

Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the blank of Figure 3 properly folded and showing the manner of its insertion into the envelope member.

' Figure 5 is a perspective view of the complete package.

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line-6--6 of Figure -5.

While I shall describe this package with partular .reierence to its utility i he packag ngof pliant'bulbs, it will be understood that a package according'to my invention may be used formany other purposes where the shape and size of the.

articlespto be packaged. coupled with the desire ability ior having them displayed tor ready in;- spectionby a customer, render a package of this ypedes rable.

Briefly, in the practice or my inven ion. I pro vide a'paok'age consisting of two parts, i. e., an envelope nember and a stiffener member. Ipre far to make the envelope member of transparent cellulosic'material, such as cellophane, for exam:-

cellophane, which is transparent, used, I-pre-' fer to opaque certain portions of the envelope member for the purpose of concealing from view hereinafter; ,As shown in Figures 1 and2, I prefer to opaque the entire envelope on both sides;

except for the window areas ;at the front and back, indicated respectively at H and L2. (in the front. of the package, I prefer toprint a-representation of a plant. such as indicated generally at 11.3,, and the representation oi the plant may extend over the window portion I I, as indi; cated .at 14. This ,does not materially 'interiere with inspection of the bulbs and it enhances the appearance of the package. It will be noted that the window portions 11' and i2, although they are or the same hei ht, are of d f e n widths. the edges of the irgnt window portion ll being indicated at Na and the edges Of the rear window 'portionbeing indicated at 12a. The reason for this discrepancy will be pointed out hereinafter.

"The stiffener member, which is indicatedat '15 in Figure :8, is provided with aVcut-out portion l6 'to'permit inspection of the bulbs through the window'portions H and =12. The member limay folded inwardly on their score lines l8a, the flaps 20 may be bent up slightly, and then the entire flap i9 is bent up, as shown in Figure 4. The blank in the form of Figure 4 is then slipped endwise into the envelope l so that the cut-out portion l8 registers substantially with the window portions II and I2,

A suitable number off-bulbs are the bag on the near side of the stiffener member l5, as seen in Figure 4. Then the flap IT, together with the overlying portions of the bag In, is folded over and fastened, as by means of staples 2|, as seen in Figure 5. In Figures 1,, 2 and 4 the line l!b-l7b indicates the line on which the open end of the bag is folded with the flap l1, and it will be clear that the lines IIaand llb coincide in the finished package.

In the finished package, the staples pass through the upper end of the bag member Ill, through the flap I1, through the upper ends of the flaps l8, and through the member l5,so.

that at its upper end the package is substantially fiat. Since there is no fastening means at the lowerend of the bag, the weightof the bulbs within the package tends to thrust the lower ends of the flaps l8 outwardly, as seen in Figure 4, and tends to force the flaps l9 outwardly also. This action is facilitatedby the score lines 28a defining the flaps 2B. Thus the fiap l9 combines with the lower end of the member '55 to provide a reinforced bottom for the bag,.while the lower portions of the flaps .88 cooperate with the member l to provide reinforced side edges for the package and the folded over flap l1 cooperates with the member IE to provide a reinforced, transverse stiffening for the upper end of the bag.

Itwill'be noted by reference to Figure 6 that when bulbs 22 are inserted into the bag, the bag will bow out on the side opposite to that in which the member l5 lies. For this reason a number of points must be observed as to the relation between the envelope member H3 and the stiffener member 15. As will clearly appear,

from a consideration of Figure 4, the envelope member is wider than the folded stiffener member l5. This is necessary in order that the bag member ID may yield and bow out, as shown in Figure 6 when bulbs are inserted into the package. It is also necessary that the bag be slightly longer than the folded stiffener l5 because there will be a slight taking up in length as well as in width. The exact amounts the envelope member must be longer and wider than the properly folded stifiener member will depend uponthe number and size of bulbs to be placed in the package, By way of example, I have found that in -a bag which is to be about 4" x 6" in size, the bag should be about /2" Wider and about A longer than the properly folded stiffener member in order to con-- tain, say, four tulip bulbs. However, the man skilled in the art will readily be able to determine for each type'of bulb and for each size of package what the relationship in size should be.

By virtue of the bowing out shown in Figure 6, the edges of the bag or envelope member, as seen in Figures 1 and 2, will not lie along. the edges of the'folded stiffener member whenthe bag is filled, but because of the bowing out effect, the edges of the bag when fiat will occupy a, position indicated at ifia in Figure 6. That is the reason why the window portions II and [2 do not appear to be co-extensive. It is desirable that the opaque portions of the envelope member overlap the opening 16 in the stifiener member by about then placed in on all sides and in order for the Window portion II, the window portion I2, and the opening 16 to register in the completed package, it is necessary that the window portion l2, which will be on the bowed out side of the package, be wider than the window portion II, which will lie on the flat side of the package. By way of example, in the package discussed above, I have found that if the portions of the stiffener defined by the flaps l8 are /2 Wide, the opaque printing on the envelope portion should be about /2" wide on the rear face of the envelope and about wide on the front face of the envelope. Thus if the shift of the-points Illa amounts to about A;, the edges of the window portions II and I2 will be brought into registry. Here again the exact figures involved may be determined experimentally and will vary with the size of the package and the size and number of bulbs to be inserted in the package. 7

On the rear face of the envelope in the opaque portion, I may provide a panel carrying instructions printed on the material of the envelope, as shown at 23 in Figure 2.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that I have provided a package for bulbs comprising a stiffening member and an envelope; that the envelope is opaqued as by printing with an opaque color over its entire surface on both sides except for the two window portion H and i2; and that the size of the envelope and the stiffener is so related on the basis of the size and number of bulbs to be carried in the package, that in the completed package the stiffener member 15 is entirely invisible; that the bulbs may readily be examined from either side of the package; and that the package by virtue of the flaps H, l8, l9 and 29 will be quite rigid and will hold its shape over long periods of time.

Modifications may be made in my invention without departing from the spirit thereof. Having thus described my invention in an exemplary embodiment, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A package of the character described, comprising an envelope member and a stiffener member, said stiffener member positioned to lie within said envelope and adapted to lie against one side of said envelope member to constitute one face of the completed and filled package, said envelope member being opaque except for a window portion on each side, and said stiffener member having a cut-out portion, said window portion in that side of the envelope member which lies against said stiffener member being slightly smaller than said cut-out portion, and said window portion on the other side being of substantially the same height as said first mentioned window portion but being wider, so that when said package is filled, said two window portions will be in substantial registry with each other and Will overlap said cut-out portion on all sides, whereby said stiffener member is completely concealed by the opaque portion of said envelope member.

2. A package of the character described comprising an envelope member and a stiffener member, said stiffener member positioned to lie within said envelope and comprising a cut and scored blank of generally rectangular shape havinga cut-out portion and constituting a frame for said package, flaps articulated to the top, sides, and bottom thereof, said bottom flap having score lines across the corners thereof to define corner flaps articulated to said bottom flap, said envelope 5 member in flat condition being slightly longer and wider than said stiffener member in its folded condition, and being opaque except for a window portion on each side, the Window portion which lies against said stifiener member being slightly smaller than the cut-out portion or" said stiifener member, and the window portion on the other side of said envelope member having substantially the same height but being wider than said cutout portion of said stiffener member, so that when bulky articles are placed in said package, said window portions and cut-out portion will be in substantial registry but with said stiffener member concealed by the opacity of said envelope member, and said stiffener memoer Will define 6 the length and Width of said package in its filled condition.

MARION R, MULFORD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

